A collector of kaleidoscopes and lousy relationships, Dahlia Kasper leaves her possessive alcoholic mother and moves from New York to Barcelona. In search of lost bits of her childhood, she starts living in an apartment where her father was murdered when she was four. As soon as she enters the apartment, strange things begin to happen.

Her favorite kaleidoscope becomes a gateway to another dimension where she encounters a ghost of a famous physicist from the 19th century who tries to persuade her that reality is like a moth-eaten sweater - full of holes. He needs her to help him plug up these holes and save the world from vanishing, while the only thing Dahlia really wants to save is her sanity.

This is just a part of Dahlia's problems. An elderly cello-playing neighbor turns her emotional world upside down and her longing for lost home takes her further than she ever imagined she could go. To collect all the scattered kaleidoscope-bits of her life together, Dahlia needs to go through an intense inner transformation that takes courage and a sharp sense of humor.

My Review:

Creative, interesting, unique, captivating. I could go on, but I think you get the point. This is one of those novels that pulls you in and propels you along the storyline while really making you think.

The writing in this story flows the way that real life does. It’s uninterrupted and unpredictable, but completely lovely. There are also a few WTF moments, but that’s the point of them. They jump out at you, make you think, and then pull you right back in. This story above all is very well written and natural. The descriptions show you exactly what you would see inthe real world. Scavina uses metaphors and illusion to bring things to light in amazing clarity. The naturalness of the writing makes the storyline itself that much more potent and captivating. You’re never once side-tracked by outlandish or incoherent writing. This novel does jump from the present to the past with multiple flashbacks that the characters are reliving. It’s a bit odd at first, but by the end of the first chapter you get used to it and it really works to add to the novel.

Scavina tackles some very difficult topics in this novel, melding them into the real lives of individuals. By using a diverse yet very well developed cast of characters to do so she allows these topics to be addressed within the story itself, without having any tangents. It also provides a very unique way of looking at spirituality and personal beliefs. None of the characters follow the same distinct belief system. Their combined beliefs create a brilliant backdrop for the story and for their lives.

This novel was a veritable kaleidoscope of lives and stories creating one brilliant picture. It keeps you captivated, makes you think, and definitely makes you want to get out and experience the world in a more direct way. Oh, and BEST CAMEO SPOT EVER!!!!!

Like every young person today, I take my cell phone with me wherever I go! Haha. I have an iPhone so it has Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and the Kindle app for when I want to read. Plus I can text people haha. I don't own an actual Ereader so I use my phone, I do have an iPad, but in paranoid and don't like taking it everywhere, afraid someone will steal it!